The Best Men’s Olympic Finishes of All Time

As a long-awaited follow-up to our women’s “best of all time” lists, here are the men’s best Olympic finishes for every country over the history of the sport dating back to 1896, the first time the Olympic Games were contested in the modern era. Enjoy!

Records for now-defunct medal categories include 1st in the free system team competition in 1920, 2nd in the Swedish system team competition in 1912 and 1920, and 4th in rope climbing (Viggo Jensen, 1896).

Records for now-defunct medal categories include 1st in team parallel bars and team high bar in 1896, 3rd in apparatus work (Wilhelm Weber, 1904) and rope climbing (Fritz Hofmann, 1896), 4th in the free system team competition in 1912, and 7th in field sports (Christian Busch, 1904).

Records for now-defunct medal categories include 1st in the free system team competition and 3rd in the Swedish system team competition in 1912, as well as 67th in field sports and 85th in apparatus work (both belonging to Birger Nilsen in 1904).